We could be heroes
If you were a schoolchild in the Kansas City metro area today, it was a snow day. At a balmy 8 deg F, it was a bit cold to actually play in the snow. This morning, as I got dressed, I was watching the morning news to find out road conditions. I watched the school closings list crawl across the bottom of the screen. When I saw the listing for my high school, but heart gave a small leap...but then I realized that I'm 28 and still have to go work. M. caught me watching the school closings and scolded, "They're not going to close work. You still have to go." (Damn! How did he know what I was thinking?) Edit: Evidently I have this same thought process every time we have a snow storm.
Luckily, the highways were pretty clear by the time I began my commute, although the fine snow caused some slipping when I hit my brakes (maintaining proper following distance is key) I actually got to work early, in less than 20 minutes. (Last night, it took me two hours to get home.) Everyone at work who had telecommuting access took advantage of it, as not to have to come in today. So the few of us that made an appearance, we felt like heroes. There was vaguely snow-day atmosphere at work, as my cube mate and I relaxed and put on classical music and related funny anecdotes. Randomly, our management decided to bring in pizza for lunch (poor delivery people!) Some kind of reward for showing up on a snow day?
In fandom news, Tor publishers is putting out e-book versions of the Wheel of Time novels with new cover art. The Wheel of Time is famous for having these ridiculously cheesy covers by artist Darrell Sweet- they're done in a certain high fantasy sword & sorcery style, which is a signal of sorts to fans of the genre. (But they're so embarrassingly awful, that when I was a teenager, I used to cover them up on my paperbacks.) Anyway, the new cover art looks pretty amazing. In the tor.com piece, they tell about the different artists creating the new covers, which I think are a vast improvement over the original ones. I especially like the cover for The Shadow Rising. For the original, click here.
The Philo list has had an active thread about the decline of Biosphere 2. Establishing community (a fantasy self living in an artificial utopia?) those 4 months during Fall 2001 that I spent at Earth Semester at Biosphere 2 was one of the most influential experiences of my life. Shared scholarship, communal living, clotheslines, composting, van trips to the Grand Canyon. The faculty provided incredible mentors and role models,and the opportunity of meeting kids who had a different perspective on life than that of my Columbia classmates. ("What do you mean you don't care about the grade?") All in a physical environment that was as alien to me as the surface of Mars. (The sonoran desert is a strange and beautiful place, completely unlike any other I've ever experienced). Posting on the Philo thread about my Bio2 memories has been a revisting of 20-year old llama-self that I didn't realize I had lost touch with. (But I had.)
We may be the sum our all our experiences, but sometimes we forget the details when bogged down more present distractions. I will always love my potluck dinner contributions of Kasha varnishkes ("It's eriogonum (buckwheat)"), creating my field note books with carefully pressed leaves and drawings, my roommate claiming that I lectured about photosynthesis in my sleep. I loved our clothesline and way laundry smelled when taken warm off the line, and being able to look out across the scrub of cholla and mesquite to see the Santa Catalinas in the distance. I remember snow on the cacti and javelinas rooting through the trash. But I hadn't thought about them in a long time. It made to smile today to recall them, even as I was sad that I recognized it was unique moment in time and space that will never come again. I was a hero then. Maybe someday I'll be one again.
Luckily, the highways were pretty clear by the time I began my commute, although the fine snow caused some slipping when I hit my brakes (maintaining proper following distance is key) I actually got to work early, in less than 20 minutes. (Last night, it took me two hours to get home.) Everyone at work who had telecommuting access took advantage of it, as not to have to come in today. So the few of us that made an appearance, we felt like heroes. There was vaguely snow-day atmosphere at work, as my cube mate and I relaxed and put on classical music and related funny anecdotes. Randomly, our management decided to bring in pizza for lunch (poor delivery people!) Some kind of reward for showing up on a snow day?
In fandom news, Tor publishers is putting out e-book versions of the Wheel of Time novels with new cover art. The Wheel of Time is famous for having these ridiculously cheesy covers by artist Darrell Sweet- they're done in a certain high fantasy sword & sorcery style, which is a signal of sorts to fans of the genre. (But they're so embarrassingly awful, that when I was a teenager, I used to cover them up on my paperbacks.) Anyway, the new cover art looks pretty amazing. In the tor.com piece, they tell about the different artists creating the new covers, which I think are a vast improvement over the original ones. I especially like the cover for The Shadow Rising. For the original, click here.
The Philo list has had an active thread about the decline of Biosphere 2. Establishing community (a fantasy self living in an artificial utopia?) those 4 months during Fall 2001 that I spent at Earth Semester at Biosphere 2 was one of the most influential experiences of my life. Shared scholarship, communal living, clotheslines, composting, van trips to the Grand Canyon. The faculty provided incredible mentors and role models,and the opportunity of meeting kids who had a different perspective on life than that of my Columbia classmates. ("What do you mean you don't care about the grade?") All in a physical environment that was as alien to me as the surface of Mars. (The sonoran desert is a strange and beautiful place, completely unlike any other I've ever experienced). Posting on the Philo thread about my Bio2 memories has been a revisting of 20-year old llama-self that I didn't realize I had lost touch with. (But I had.)
We may be the sum our all our experiences, but sometimes we forget the details when bogged down more present distractions. I will always love my potluck dinner contributions of Kasha varnishkes ("It's eriogonum (buckwheat)"), creating my field note books with carefully pressed leaves and drawings, my roommate claiming that I lectured about photosynthesis in my sleep. I loved our clothesline and way laundry smelled when taken warm off the line, and being able to look out across the scrub of cholla and mesquite to see the Santa Catalinas in the distance. I remember snow on the cacti and javelinas rooting through the trash. But I hadn't thought about them in a long time. It made to smile today to recall them, even as I was sad that I recognized it was unique moment in time and space that will never come again. I was a hero then. Maybe someday I'll be one again.